Is Jose Mourinho really the 'Happy One'?

Rewind five months and the dust had just settled after Jose Mournho's first press conference since it was announced he was making a sensational return to Stamford Bridge. The Portuguese insisted he was the 'Happy One' and a better manager than ever before.

There was a stark contrast between Mourinho's second unveiling as Chelsea manager to that of his original headline-grabbing press conference back in 2004. Some suggested his calculated and relaxed demeanour could be put down to the vast experience he had amassed over the past nine years. Perhaps, instead, it was the early warnings sign that Mourinho had been damaged by his difficult spell at Real Madrid.

Fast forward to today. Mourinho, never shy of controversy has already amassed a catalogue of incidents and dramas that would have understandably caused some people to question whether he can deliver the same success at Stamford Bridge as he did first time around. In the last month alone, the Blues boss has been at the heart of so much controversy that he has shown us a diffferent side to the man who used to be so calculated about how he handled himself in public.

Not for the only time of late, Mourinho let his emotions get the better of him when he was sent to the stands for dissent during Chelsea's 4-1 home victory against Cardiff on October 19. The Blues boss was furious with referee, Anthony Taylor, when he told Branislav Ivanovic to hurry up with a throw in and was subsequently fined £8,000 by the FA for 'improper conduct'.

Less than two weeks later, Chelsea turned in a lacklustre display against Newcastle at St. James' Park which lacked the conviction, discipline and attacking threat we are accustomed to seeing from Mourinho's sides. The Chelsea boss then surprisingly claimed in his post-match interview that he had made '11 mistakes' when selecting his starting 11.

"I feel I made 11 mistakes. Of course I'm exaggerating, we had some guys with normal good performances but the overall feeling is I made 11 bad choices. It was a really bad performance from us," Mourinho said.

The Chelsea boss, famed for maintaining a good relationship with his players, then followed up the criticism of his entire side by dropping Eden Hazard for Chelsea's West London Champions League showdown with Schalke and referred to the Belgian star as a 'kid' because he forgot a training time.

"He's a kid, kids make mistakes and fathers they have to be clever in the way they educate their sons," Mourinho said in his post-match press conference.

In what has been a whirlwind month for Mourinho, Chelsea were recently lucky to escape with a point in their recent draw at home to West Brom, the type of match the Chelsea of yesteryear would have wrapped up with the help of Didier Drogba, Claude Makelele and Ricardo Carvalho.

Not only did Andre Marriner's decision during the game to award a 94th-minute Chelsea penalty after Ramires cover the back pages, but Mourinho created headlines again when reportedly losing his cool with West Brom defender Jonas Olsson. No doubt frustrated that his side had failed to win, the Chelsea manager reportedly called the towering Sweden international "a Mickey Mouse player" and the pair had to be separated by stewards and players after facing off outside the dressing rooms.

These incidents, along with Mourinho storming out of a press conference in the build-up to Champions League fixture against Steaua Bucharest and his ludicrous claims that his sides are victims of a UEFA conspiracy have raised questions about the Portuguese's style in his second-coming.

There is no doubt his witty press conferences, managerial mind-games and cunning handling of the press worked during his first spell at Chelsea; however, this season Chelsea have faltered somewhat in the league and are currently sitting fourth, four points behind leaders Arsenal.

The Portuguese was somewhat an unknown quantity in the Premier League the first time he was at the helm at the Bridge and he arguably inherited a younger and stronger core of players back in 2004 than this time around and after 11 Premier League games and less than three months into the season, the Blues boss has already been the subject of multiple headlines and unnecessary attention.

However, the headlines this time around are of a different nature as Mourinho continues to struggle to match the high standards he set first time around and prove he is still the 'Special One'.

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DISCLAIMER

This article has been written by a member of the GiveMeSport Writing Academy and does not represent the views of
GiveMeSport.com or SportsNewMedia. The views and opinions expressed are solely that of the author credited at the top of this article.
GiveMeSport.com and SportsNewMedia do not take any responsibility for the content of its contributors.

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